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Philosophy by Julie Bray: We Are Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On and Our Little Life Is Rounded With A Sleep.'

This document provides an overview of the topic of philosophy. It discusses how philosophy involves asking questions to better understand life and gain wisdom. Some key points covered include: - Philosophy encourages individual thinking and questioning rather than accepting beliefs without understanding. - Eastern philosophies like Taoism and Buddhism ask questions about what really exists in life and help people understand themselves and others. - Early Western philosophers like Socrates encouraged people to find their own answers rather than believe the gods did everything. - Studying philosophy can help prevent problems caused by misunderstanding, though it can also cause conflicts when different groups have differing philosophies.

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Jonathan Seagull
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100 views1 page

Philosophy by Julie Bray: We Are Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On and Our Little Life Is Rounded With A Sleep.'

This document provides an overview of the topic of philosophy. It discusses how philosophy involves asking questions to better understand life and gain wisdom. Some key points covered include: - Philosophy encourages individual thinking and questioning rather than accepting beliefs without understanding. - Eastern philosophies like Taoism and Buddhism ask questions about what really exists in life and help people understand themselves and others. - Early Western philosophers like Socrates encouraged people to find their own answers rather than believe the gods did everything. - Studying philosophy can help prevent problems caused by misunderstanding, though it can also cause conflicts when different groups have differing philosophies.

Uploaded by

Jonathan Seagull
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Philosophy by Julie Bray

We are such stuff as dreams are made on


and our little life is rounded with a sleep.

Vocabulary
Five words/phrases from the text:

Shakespeare

I wisdom: the state of knowing what is true

or right

Does this sentence make you think? What does it


make you think about? Shakespeare was a dreamer,
and some say he was a philosopher too. In this
sentence he tells us that our lives are short but
we can think up big and important ideas in that
short time.

to children. Reading books written by old


philosophers can be difficult because the language
is from the past. So stories are used to help
schoolchildren make their own decisions about what
is right and wrong and think about the best way to
solve problems.

The two Greek words philo, which means love, and


sophia, which means wisdom, are the beginnings of
the word we use today philosophy: the love of
wisdom.

Why do we need philosophy? There are plenty of


people who think that killing animals is cruel, but
eating animals is fine. If you are one of these people,
you should ask yourself why. Why is killing animals
cruel? Why is it all right to eat animals? You might
find that the answer to each question is very
different and you could have an argument by
yourself using your own ideas. Go on and argue
you will understand more about what you believe.
You will begin to understand the subject more
deeply. And this helps you to feel comfortable with
it. And you might change something or you might
not. When we ask ourselves questions, we start to
understand ourselves and our lives, and its up to us
to make changes or not. If the ideas in your head
agree, this means you have integrity. What you say
and what you do are the same. Everyone respects
someone who has integrity.

Most people have a philosophy on life. Everybody


has an idea of what is right and what is wrong, and
why things are the way they are, and who they are
and who to trust. A lot of people believe somebody
elses philosophy. That person may be a religious or
political leader, or anybody you look up to. Some
people have their own philosophy on life, which
might be a mixture of theories. Others are
philosophers; people who want to know the truth
about life for themselves and spend their time
studying, thinking and asking questions.
One of the earliest Eastern philosophies was Taoism,
which came from China. We are all aware of the yin
and yang halves of the universe nothing can exist
without its opposite. Another great Eastern
philosophy is Buddhism, which is a religion and also
a system of beliefs, which help us to understand
ourselves and others better. One branch of Western
philosophy, Existentialism, is very similar to Buddhist
ideas. Both ask questions about what really exists in
life, and help us to decide what is important.
The first Western philosophers lived in Greece. They
encouraged people to find their own answers to
questions about life instead of believing the Gods
did everything. Socrates was the most famous of
these. He is one of the most famous philosophers in
the world, yet he said one thing I know and that is
that I know nothing. This is why he never wrote or
lectured. He only discussed. He did not believe he
could tell anybody anything; that it was better to
encourage individual thinking.
Today, philosophers are still encouraging people to
think. Schools in some countries teach philosophy

By thinking and questioning, we can understand


more and perhaps prevent problems caused by
misunderstanding. But philosophy can also cause
problems and conflict when people dont agree.
When one group of people choose one philosophy
to believe and another group of people choose a
different philosophy, when they need to think or
make a decision together, they start trying to
change each other instead of working together on
bigger ideas about life.
So when you have some spare time, ask yourself the
following philosophical questions:
Does the world own us or do we own the world?
Which is more important, humans or stars?

I decision: the process of deciding by making

a judgement
I argument: a discussion involving different

points of view
I integrity: state of maintaining moral principles
I conflict: a fight or struggle

Exercise one
Vocabulary gap fill. Now use the five
words/phrases to fill the gaps in the
sentences below:
Sarah had a difficult [1] to make; to stay at
home and study at the local college or to move
to London and start a new life. Her father was
not happy about her moving and they had
had a terrible [2] about it that morning.
Elizabeth is a high court judge. Shes a person
of character and has [3] because all of her
actions are in keeping with her value system.
When she had to intervene in a [4] between
two companies she showed great [5] She
treated both parties fairly and found an
equitable solution.

Exercise two
Comprehension: true or false. Decide
whether these sentences are TRUE or
FALSE according to the text:
1 Everybody believes in somebody elses
philosophy.
2 Buddhism is a religion as well as a philosophy.
3 The first Western philosophers tried to
encourage a belief in the power of the Gods.
4 Stories about the old philosophers teach
children what is right and what is wrong.
5 Philosophy can cause problems as well as
solve problems.

If a tree falls where nobody can hear it,


does it make a sound?
And the Zen Buddhist riddle: What is the sound
of one hand clapping?

Word search
C

M W

B_LI_V_

Q_ES_ION

G_EE_

See if you can find these


words in the grid. They
can be horizontal, vertical,
diagonal and backwards.

R_L_G_OUS
DEC_S_ON
BUDDHISM
INTEGRITY
P_IL_SOP_Y
SO_V_
P_OB_E_

English and culture


The weather is a popular topic of conversation in Britain.
John Ruskin wrote: Sunshine is delicious, rain is
refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating; there
is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of
good weather. Ruskin was a critic and social theorist.
Is the weather a popular topic of conversation in your
country? Do you agree with Ruskins optimistic view of
the weather?

Answers

5 True

5 wisdom

4 False

4 conflict

3 False

3 integrity

2 True

2 argument

1 False

1 decision

Vocabulary

Comprehension

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